The Language Wars: A History of Proper English

"Exemplary...Hitchings has created a fascinating, wholly readable, and gratifyingly informative book."---Financial Times (London) The English language is a battlefield. Since the age of Shakespeare, arguments over correct usage have been bitter; often they've had more to do with morality, politics, and the values of the age than with language itself. Peopled with intriguing characters such as Jonathan Swift, Lewis Carroll, and Lenny Bruce, The Language Wars is essential reading for anyone interested in the contemporary state of the English language, its contested history, and its future.